Israeli Spokesman in Black Face ‘Obama Style’

CAIRO – One of the Israeli military’s most visible spokesmen is under fire for a photo he posted on his Facebook page captioned ‘Obama style’ in which his face is smeared with mud.

Sacha Dratwa posted the photo in late September, but since the furor he has restricted access to his account. A screengrab of the original post circulating online showed that it drew mixed reactions, with one commenter saying, ‘You know this is racist, yeah?’

In the photo, Dratwa appears to be smeared in mud from the Dead Sea, a popular activity for many visiting and living in Israel. Dratwa responded to a user on Twitter accusing him of racism saying, ‘I’m not a racist, please stop [spreading] lies about me.’ He also posted a response on Facebook saying the firestorm around the photo misrepresents his opinions and is a ‘cynical use of the information’ on his profile.

Not that bright a move on his part, you would think a spokesman would be more conscious of appearances than that. Perhaps after seeing the picture he thought it would be amusing to post this as a "look, I'm black like Obama" bit of "clowning" to his friends. Maybe he dislikes Obama or maybe Obama is just the first really well known black person's name that popped into his head, no telling.

I can also see why he might not really consider it to be racist, lack of previous exposure. I don't think Israel has same history the United States does with white actors in black-face representing caricatures of African Americans. My conclusion then is...

excuses excuses. He is steeped in institutionalization racism. His employers are the same people who give cover to the thugs in the west bank spray painting "gas the arabs" and "kill the sand n****rs".

Just because you didn't mean to be a racist does not make you not a racist.

excuses excuses. He is steeped in institutionalization racism. His employers are the same people who give cover to the thugs in the west bank spray painting "gas the arabs" and "kill the sand n****rs".

His employer is the Israeli military, and since Israel is a democratic country, they represent the Israeli people... also since it's a military that everyone has to serve in it's not a self-selected crowd, it's actually staffed by the whole country.

So you're slandering the whole country.

That's hardly fair. And if the whole country of Israel or even just their military were "steeped in institutional racism" we'd never hear the end of it.

However, since the Palestinians have made it clear that their territory, one day to be a country, is and will forever be free of Jews perhaps what we're seeing here is a preemptive reversal. Carl Rove style tactics.

He claims it's a misrepresentation and a distortion, and we don't know if the "screen grab" spreading has been modified in any way. We don't know, for instance, if the caption was added by one of his friends or followers. Covering your face in mud at the Dead Sea is a tradition, so the photo itself (without the caption) doesn't indicate any racist intent. You can find photos of me covered in Dead Sea mud on the Internet.

I just don't think it's a big enough issue to get too excited about. Certainly we should say that this comment is in very poor taste, and explain to him why. And we should speak out against it.

But for some reason Liberals are using this as "proof" that All Israelis are Racist and (by extension) the conflict with the Gazans is a "racist" one. That's just liberal nonsense.

being a "democracy" does not mean that the institution of power "represent" the country as a whole. Would you say that, despite being elected twice, Bush is the legitimate representation of the entire American nation? That the wars his administration drove the nation into where wildly supported and called for? what ever happened too it's "complicated"? Why is Netanyahu and the Army all of a sudden the illegitimate representation of the entire Israeli nation?

Dratwa is a product of the society he has grown in, and that society is a racist society; that is not to say that our society in America, Canada, the UK, or other nations are not as deep a racist society. I don't care that he "didn't mean to be racist". When you are a product of a racist society, someone who receives the privileges of that society afforded to the majority and denied to the minority, then your a racist.

I can only imagine one day when Israelis celebrate there "thanksgiving" by dressing up as Palestinians.

Yeah those filthy, subhuman Ayrabs! Israel - the poor, peace-loving 'democracy' who only wants peace and love, and whose leadership has never, ever been for violence and sought to extend it's own power by provoking those filthy monsters. Never, ver has there been a racist, anti-Persian/Ayrab policy. Not now, not ever.
Lieberman really is the model of democracy and peace in our time.

Arabs(because they're all the same, aren't they, ResearchOK??? Research? teehee) are the racists always and forever, Israelis the peace-nicks always and forever. Only one side can be blamed.